Just Overwhelm Me
by Myrne
Summary: Rumbelle AU. Mr. Gold thinks about his son's kindergarten teacher a lot. And let it be that his son wants Miss Belle to be his mommy. And maybe, just maybe, Belle thinks about Mr. Gold too, but who knows?
1. Chapter 1

**Just Overwhelm Me**

_Hi there!  
I'm Myrne and I'm not exactly new on this website. I am, however, new to the OUAT fandom and their library of fanfiction. :)  
This is a Rumbelle AU, with Belle as a kindergarten teacher and Mr. Gold as father of Bae, who is in Belle's class. It will all become clear as you read along, I hope!  
It's a multi chaptered story, and I intend to post every weekend.  
English is not my mothertongue, and this is not beta'd. I hope I haven't made major mistakes, but when you spot one, let me know and I'll fix it._

_Enjoy reading!  
_

**Chapter 1**

It was getting out of hand. Very, very out of hand.

Mr. Gold parked his car in front of Bae's school. Swiftly, as far as he could, he exited the car, running his hand through his hair. As he approached the front door of the building, he mentally cursed his son, who spoke about his very secret crush on Belle, his very own teacher in kindergarten.

Ever since he told Bae about his thoughts of Miss French, as Mr. Gold tried to keep calling her, even though Bae reminded him time after time how much she hated it to be called like that (her kids could call her Miss Belle), he couldn't hear the end of it. His hyper active five year old son kept plotting ways of getting him and Belle together, as he liked to call it.

Mr. Gold had rushed out of the shop to make it to school after receiving another call from school, from Mrs French herself, after Bae drawn a picture of his father and his kindergarten teacher together. She sounded very, very nice and patient at the phone, as he kept apologizing for his son's behaviour. He didn't mean for her to find out, ever. Belle was only 26 years old, freshly out of teaching school, and the world was at her feet. Why would she want to be with a 40 year old, who owned a simple shop in town and had nothing to offer her?

He paused, when he reached the door, and looked behind him, seeing kids from another class leaving the school for their break. He recognized Mary Margaret Nolan, a colleague and good friend of Miss French, trying to shout over the screams of the kids, her hands supporting her obviously pregnant belly.

He had to enter the school eventually and face Bae's teacher, the main character of his dreams at night, but also his day dreams on a particular dead day at the shop. After a heavy sigh, he pushed open the heavy doors and limped through the long hall way, on his way to Miss French's office.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Gold!" Miss French exclaimed, when he finally reached the right hall way. Quickly, he looked up and blushed a bright red when he saw her, in a colourful summer dress and cute flip flops. Her pretty brown hair fell over her shoulders, and she flashed a bright smile at him and motioned to get in.

"I'm so sorry to have called you over at such short notice, but I just wanted to ask you something about something your son drew, Mr. Gold," Miss French told him, as she pointed to a rather uncomfortable looking chair, but Mr. Gold took place in it anyways, not very fond of standing right now. His legs could give out after all.

"Um, yeah, about that…" He started, but Miss French lifted her hand, letting him know she wanted to talk.

"I guess I know what you want to say, and I just want to tell you that it's nothing to be sorry about. It's natural for a kid to want a mother in his life, and he sees me nearly every day and he likes me, so it's not weird he wants me as… his mother." She worried her lip in between her teeth and leaned away, taking a piece of paper and showed it to Mr. Gold.

There were two people on the paper, holding hands, and for a four year old, it was a rather detailed painting. The left person was clearly himself, with the cane and all, and then his eyes fell on the right person, which was a woman with long, brown hair and one book underneath her arm.

"I'm so sorry, Miss French…" He ignored the awkward cough of her (he refused to call her Belle!) and wiped some hair out of his face, frowning. "Bae misses his mother very much, even though he can't remember much about her… I guess it's just the idea of a mother figure."

"That's nothing to be sorry about, it's so normal for him to miss his mother. It's been three years, but still… It's something that never really goes away." She looked up, at exactly the same time as Mr. Gold, and their eyes met. Mr. Gold swallowed thickly, and quickly looked away.

"It never really goes away, exactly that…" He mumbled, and took the drawing off the desk, glancing shortly into the class at the other side of the window, where Bae was furiously trying to build a tower, but it kept collapsing.

"I just want to tell you that Bae is a remarkable kid, Mr. Gold. You've raised him well, even without a mother, and I admire that." Belle moved some papers from the one side of the desk to the other and glanced at the class who was working quietly, something that she took advantage of. They weren't always quiet like that.

"Thank you, I try, but… where is the question, Miss French?"

Belle looked up, and coloured a healthy tomato red when she thought about the reason why she called him over. It wasn't only for the picture, though she let Gold come for that.

"Um, you caught me. That was my lecture about Bae wanting a mother figure in his life. I invited you over to give you this…" She reached into a drawer in her desk and handed him another piece of paper. Gold quickly read over it and then placed it in front of him, a playful smile around his lips.

"A house visit? Are you concerned about Bae?"

Belle widened her eyes comically and then shook her head, taking a sip from her glass of water. "Oh no, Mr. Gold, you must know that I'm intending to visit all the houses of my kids in class. I want to know where they grow up and I want to see them in their natural area, if you understand what I mean. I don't mean any bad stuff with this, I swear!"

Mr. Gold now laughed out loud, and he couldn't help himself, snickering into the palm of his hand. He watched Belle, who crossed her arms and huffed, offended by his laughing, but he saw the corners of her lips standing up. Belle stood up and hit him playfully over the shoulder.

"Don't tease me, Mr. Gold!"

He inhaled sharply when he felt the slap, not because it hurt, but because she had just touched him. And she had been playful with him, like they were a couple… Quickly, he erased that thought out of his mind and grabbed his day planner, opening it at next week. "So, uhm… I'm closing the shop on Monday, so you could come over then, after school."

She glanced over in her own day planner, and nodded, writing it down. "Sounds good, Mr. Gold. I could drive Bae back to your house, so you don't have to come over to pick him up, if that's okay with you."

"That actually sounds quite all right, miss French," and before he could think about it, he took her hand gently and placed a kiss on top of it. Like it had been burnt, he dropped it just a few seconds after kissing it and looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm so, so, so sorry, that was so inappropiate. Um, I need to go, I can't leave the shop assistant alone for that long. She's new, you see, and I don't trust her enough just yet. Um, I'll see you Monday?"

Mr. Gold didn't ramble, he never rambled. Curse him for acting before thinking. He glanced into the class for the last time, looking at Bae and smiled at him, when Bae waved at him and continued playing. Then, he leapt out of his chair and rushed through the door, but before he could really disappear, he felt a gentle hand around his pulse.

"Mr. Gold?"

That did it for him. Her soft, angelic voice. He carefully turned around, watching her quietly and before he could even prepare, her pink lips placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Bye, Mr. Gold. See you Monday."

Trying to collect his thoughts, Belle giggled and turned around. Mr. Gold watched her go, without anything to say to her. He still felt her lips linger on his cheek and he covered it with his hand, not quite believing what just happened.

xXx

"Daddy!" Bae exclaimed when he left the school a few hours later. "You were here this morning, why didn't you greet me?" He stuck out his lower lip, widening his arms.

Mr. Gold caught him in his arms and hugged him close, placing his hand in Bae's brown hair. "Hey, Bae. I didn't want to interrupt you. You looked so peaceful playing, and besides, I only had a meeting with Miss French for a short time."

"Yeah, that's true…" Bae looked thoughtful. "Miss Belle explained to us that she's doing some house visits next week, to get to know us better. Is that true, daddy? Is that why she invited you to school?"

Mr. Gold ruffled his hair, carrying him and his tiny bag to the car, placing him inside and buckling him. "That's exactly true, Bae. She's coming over next Monday at our home. Do you like that?"

"Yes, daddy!" Bae screamed, and bounced in his chair. "You should make chicken soup for her, your famous chicken soup, it is so good…" He widened his arms as far as he could, as Mr. Gold took place behind the wheel, laughing because of his son's behaviour.

"Maybe she can't join us for dinner, Bae, but you should ask her tomorrow if she wants to, okay?" The shop owner actually liked that idea a lot. He would love to have Miss French in his house, eating his chicken soup.

"Okay, I'll ask her tomorrow," and without a warning, Bae fell asleep, thumb in his mouth. Mr. Gold looked at him and removed some hair out of his face.

"I love you, buddy," he whispered, and drove the rest of the way home.

**So, that was that… I hope you liked the first chapter! You can expect the next chapter next weekend. Or maybe earlier when I have the time to write. I'd love to have some reactions, and I hope you want to take time to review. If you want a preview of next chapter (the house visit), you can also ask me!**

**Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just Overwhelm Me**

_Hi again!  
Welcome back to my story. As you might have noticed, I've changed the title from "Mother Figure" to "Just Overwhelm Me". This came to me after listening to one of my favourite songs of all time: "What if the storm ends" by Snow Patrol. I hope you like it. :)  
I gave Mr. Gold a first name in this story, so that I don't have to refer to "Mr. Gold" every time!  
Thank you so much for your reviews, I'm so happy that people appreciate what I'm writing!  
Without further ado: Here's Chapter 2, with the house visit and Mr. Gold's famous chicken soup!_

**Chapter 2**

Mr. Gold was very close to calling off Miss French's visit. Everything, and with that me meant _everything_, went wrong. The soup boiled over, leaving his furnace dirty and he couldn't use this pot of soup again. He dropped a vase with flowers on the ground in the living room. He cut himself in his fingers when he was busy cutting new veggies for the chicken soup, blood flowing from his finger, and he quickly wrapped his finger in a bandage.

"Oh, for god's sake!" He exclaimed loudly, punching Bae's teddy bear that his son left on the couch. "Sorry, Teddy," he quickly mumbled and got back to work. After all, the woman of his dreams was coming over in less than half an hour and he still needed new soup.

The day after the meeting in Miss French's office, Bae had informed him that she would, in fact, love it to stay for dinner to taste his delicious chicken soup (those were Bae's words, not his). Mr. Gold had been panicking ever since.

"Okay, now focus, Randall Gold. Don't make a fool of yourself."

He got new energy and made the new soup quickly and without letting it boil over this time. With just five minutes to spare, he changed his tie, because he was suddenly insecure about the colour. Looking over himself in the mirror, he nodded and decided that he looked good enough. As far as he could look good. He was still insecure about his looks and his body, even though Milla, when she was still alive, reminded him every day how attracted she was to him and how sexy she thought he was. It didn't help. It never helped.

When the doorbell rang, he tried to calm his nervous beating heart, and after he had taken a deep breath, he opened the door, revealing his son, which he immediately had an armful of, catching him just in time, before he looked at Miss French. She was so beautiful. The lump in his throat appeared, as he had so many times when talking to her.

"Hi buddy… And hi Miss French, come in!" He opened the door completely to let her in, putting his son on the ground, who ran to the kitchen, probably to try and steal some candy, but Mr. Gold had hid it very well this time.

"Mr. Gold, how lovely to see you. You look… dressed for the occasion." A compliment died on Belle's tongue, thinking that it would be too inappropiate to compliment him on his looks. Not while they were still not being a couple. Belle quickly shook that thought out of her mind. It wouldn't happen!

"I'm always dressed for the occasion, Miss French." His wonder about Belle looking so, so beautiful, especially today in this skirt with a lovely blouse that hugged her curves in all the right ways, ebbed away a little. Enough for him to try and be funny. He succeed. She threw her head in her neck, laughing out loud, with her mouth wide and throat exposed. Mr. Gold focused on her neck and then he reminded he shouldn't think about her that way, or there would be consequences.

"Yes, you are," she giggled, and then pointed at the door she thought was the kitchen. "I saw Bae disappear through there… Is that the kitchen? I don't want to be rude, but I have spent a whole day with 25 young children who looked like they were on sugar, and they probably were, so I kind of need to sit down and have a glass of water." Belle blushed and scratched the back of her neck, wondering if she had been too forward.

"Ofcourse, Miss French. Follow me," and Mr. Gold opened the door, where Bae was sitting at the table, drawing. That kid loved to draw. Mr. Gold was sincerely hoping he wasn't drawing another picture of him and his teacher.

"You know, Mr. Gold. You should stop calling me Miss French. It's just my last name and I don't like it." Belle looked at him, with her eyebrow raised, while the shop owner ruffled Bae through his hair and got the beautiful woman at his kitchen table a glass of water.

"Well, Miss French. In fact, I do like your last name and I'm rather fond of calling you that, if you don't mind." He put his hand on Bae's shoulder and looked at the picture, relief rushing through him as he saw it was in fact only Bae himself, in the forest, playing with dirt. He was again taken aback by the fact that his son was an amazing drawer.

"Um, all right, Mr. Gold." Belle couldn't say she wasn't a bit disappointed. She had hoped they would move past the whole 'Mister and Miss' thing. She considered Mr. Gold as more than 'just a father of a kid in her class'.

"You can call me Randall, if you want to," he mumbled, and Belle looked up, hopefully and then she nodded shyly.

"I didn't know that was your name, I like it, Mr… Randall." Belle smiled brightly at him, and Randall didn't know where to get air to breath. She was truly stunning. If there was a way he could tell her that… But no, he couldn't and shouldn't.

"Dad, Miss Belle will call you Randall now, so you should call her Belle. It's not hard, dad. Or are you incapable of pronouncing Belle? Because I can teach you!" Bae exclaimed and lifted his arms up, wanting to be picked up by his dad.

"You know what, Bae? Why don't you teach me that later tonight when Miss French is gone? I'm sure I'll be able to call her by her name the next time I see her…" Mr. Gold lifted up his son, and winked at Belle, who had a happy smile on her face.

xXx

"Miss Belle, Miss Belle!" Bae screamed a while later, when Mr. Gold was busy warming up the chicken soup and putting bread in the oven. The little kid leaned closer to Belle, wrapping his hands around his mouth, whispering something in her ear: "Miss Belle, do you like my daddy?"

Belle blinked at the boldness of Randall's son, but smiled slightly, because yes… She does like him, she had for quite some time, but she doesn't know how to tell him… And she's afraid she would get rejected. She hadn't had very much experience with men yet.

"Can I tell you a secret, Bae?" She leaned close to Bae, in the same way he had done to her seconds ago. "I like your daddy a lot. But don't tell him! I don't want him to think I'm unprofessional in any way."

Bae blinked his eyes and then shook his head. "Daddy likes you too, he told me so himself. Will you be my mommy, Miss Belle, please? I'd be so much fun when I can see you at school and home!"

Moving a hand through his hair, she put her lips close to Bae's ear for one last time. "If it is true, what you're saying… I need you to be quiet for some time longer, Bae. Can you do that for me? I need to come up with a master plan to tell your daddy, okay?"

"Oh, I love master plans!" Bae's eyes widened and wrapped his arms around Belle's neck. "Thank you for listening, Miss Belle. Daddy won't listen to me about this. He thinks you think he's ugly. I always see him standing in front of the mirror and pulling a face at his looks. He says I got my handsome looks from my mother."

Belle's throat tightened at this information. Ugly? Him? Suddenly a wave of sadness crashed over her and she smiled slightly at Bae. "I like your daddy's looks. Let's wait for a while to tell him, so I can really surprise him, okay?"

"Okay!" Bae said loudly, clasping his hands over his mouth. "Okay!" He repeated, much softer, almost a whisper. "Sorry, Miss Belle, I won't disappoint you!"

"You could never disappoint me, Bae. Only when you tell your daddy, so… you know what you shouldn't do!" And with that, Belle ended this conversation, pressing a kiss in Bae's hair and watched Mr. Gold cooking, a lazy smile on her face, because she was happy with this information. She knew that Bae would never lie, and besides… Children were very bad at lying.

"It smells amazing, Randall." Belle wrinkled her nose and watched him carrying the pot, placing it on the table, a big spoon sticking out of it. Mr. Gold then scooted back to the kitchen block to get the bread with garlic butter.

"Thank you, Miss French, I try. My son, as you might know, is crazy about this soup. It's a recipe that has been in the family for a very long time, so I intent to learn it to my son when he's old enough." With this, Mr. Gold took place at the table, taking Belle's soup cup and poured the delicious looking soup in it. "Enjoy, I hope you like it just as much Bae does."

"Yay, soup!" Bae called out and clapped in his hands, disturbing his father in pouring the soup.

"Careful, buddy, or you're knocking over your cup and you wouldn't have anything!" But Mr. Gold couldn't help but laugh softly to his son's behaviour. He was such a bright and happy kid, he couldn't be happier with him.

Bae leaned back and waited patiently until his father poured the soup for him. Then he grabbed the spoon and started to eat, very sloppily. He looked up at his father, and saw the frown on his face and Bae looked down, guiltily.

"Sorry, daddy, Miss Belle. Enjoy your meal!" And Bae got back to eating, like he hadn't just had a silent conversation with his father.

Belle looked with amazement to how father and son communicated. She loved how Mr. Gold could tell his son things without words. It showed her that they had a very strong bond.

"Bon appétit, Bae, and to you too, Miss French," Gold said, and also took his first bite, and in the corners of his eyes he was watching Bae, to make sure he wouldn't make such a mess of things.

"Have a nice meal, you two," Belle laughed, and she imagined how it would be in the future. Them three at the table, Bae playing with his food and Mr. Gold slightly annoyed, but deep down he loved it and Belle was staring lovingly at the two most important men in her life. A golden band appeared in her flash forward, and that was what pulled her back into reality. She couldn't afford to think like that. She would only get disappointed when that wouldn't happen. And it would not. Even if Randall and her ended up together, there was still nothing said about marriage. He lost his wife only three years ago. There was a big chance he would never be ready to settle down again.

Belle ate quietly, when she observed father and son, who were chatting happily, telling each other about their days. It looked so peaceful and she was happy they had each other, after the horrible time of losing their wife and mother.

"It is delicious, Randall. Your son is right and has very good taste," Belle nodded, her mouth still a bit full with chicken.

"Why, thank you, Miss French. Are you finished? I also have a very, very nice dessert, if you're still up to it. If you need to go, I completely understand." Mr. Gold worried his lip between his teeth and watched Belle uncertainly, and a smile appeared when she nodded and he cleared off the plates, grabbing the dessert out of the fridge. Belle's stomach growled, even though she just had two bowls of chicken soup and enough bread to feed a poor family in the morning.

"It is self made chocolate mousse. Also a recipe that runs in the family." With a smirk, Mr. Gold gave Belle some, with a small spoon and she put the first bite in her mouth, moaning around the spoon. Quickly, she finished the dessert, rubbing over her stomach.

"You certainly know your way around the kitchen, Randall. Is there something you can't cook?" Belle asked, a bit embarrassed because of her moan. Father and son shared a look and laughed, both yelling at the same time: "Pancakes!"

"It's true," Mr. Gold told her with a laugh in his voice and Bae nodded furiously next to him.

"Well, I think I can forgive you for that." Belle cleaned the corners of her mouth with the napkin and then stood up, watching the clock in the kitchen, sad that she had to leave again. "I'm really sorry, Randall, I'm enjoying myself quite a lot, but unfortunately I have to go. Other duties."

"I understand, Miss French. Let me walk you to the door." Mr. Gold stood up, lifting up Bae in one arm and he placed the hand of his free arm on Belle's shoulder. "I had a lovely time, Miss French. I'll see you when this little fella is being bad again, right?"

Belle laughed, and nodded, ruffling Bae's hair. "I will certainly call." She winked and put on her coat, opening the door, staring into the night sky. "Bye, Randall… And bye Bae! I'll see you tomorrow," and with a bright red face, she placed another soft kiss on Mr. Gold's cheek. "Bye!"

And before Mr. Gold could say anything back, she had disappeared through the door, walking quickly to her car and driving away. Mr. Gold waved at her, but he wasn't sure if she had seen it. Quietly, he closed the door and frowned, leaning against it, with Bae still in his arms.

"That woman is so complicated, but oh so beautiful," he groaned and Bae laughed, pressing a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"She will be my mommy!" He exclaimed, and Mr. Gold laughed, nodding along, even though he knew it would never happen.

"We'll see about that, buddy. Now, it's time for bed!"

Bae smiled brightly behind daddy's back. Because… he knew better! And without any complaints he let his father bring him to bed.

**Don't you love Bae? I want to squeeze his cheeks. I hope you liked the chapter! Until next time. (Probably next weekend, but hey… Who knows, maybe I'm earlier, I was earlier than planned with this chapter after all too.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Just Overwhelm Me**

_Hello, dearies. I'm so sorry about the late update. I had no idea what to write in this chapter, so it's kind of a filler chapter and a very short one... I know it's not the most exciting one, but I am sure you'll like chapter 4. :) I have that one partly written already, because I'm so excited for you to read it.  
Sorry for the switch in POV's, but I want to write both their thoughts. If it's too confusing, let me know and I'll try to write one POV per chapter.  
Thank you for reading and reviewing, I love you all for it!  
Enjoy!_

**Chapter 3**

The crush on Miss French had gotten worse. Everywhere Mr. Gold went, he saw the beautiful kindergarten teacher. It was extra strong on nights when he was walking through town, doing business for people who couldn't reach his shop. Bae was with Ariel, his baby sitter, who gladly wanted to look after Bae for one evening per week. Gold was grateful of that, and he adored the woman. There was even a time, just a few months after losing Milah, he thought he was in love with her, but he had been wrong. And Ariel was happily together with Eric, her prince charming.

He saw couples walking arm in arm, everywhere. At times like this, he thought about Belle the most. How he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. How he wanted to surprise her with a picknick or another nice date. He dreamed about the moment he could do that all with Belle. But surely, they would always stay dreams, not become reality.

Gold shivered, and looked up at the sky. It would rain soon, and Gold cursed himself for not bringing a coat. It had been nice weather at the beginning of the evening. With his arms wrapped around himself, he walked back to his car. Luckily he was done doing business and he just wanted to go home, wrap himself in a blanket and watch TV with his hands wrapped around a cup of homemade hot chocolate.

His car was parked at the other side of town, and he frowned at the air, praying that it would start raining after he had reached his car and was safely in it. But the damned weather gods had other plans. Just a few seconds after Gold's prayers, the heaven broke loose, and rain was pouring out of it. Gold needed to bite back a string of curse words, and walked a bit faster, but his leg was preventing him from sprinting.

Suddenly, the rain stopped and he heard 'tick-tock' above his head, over and over again. Surprised, he looked up and saw an umbrella floating above his head. Then he looked beside him and he saw her…

"Belle," he breathed out, and he hadn't even thought about calling her Belle, and she was just as surprised as him, because she widened her eyes, but then smiled widely, her white teeth blinking in the night. Gold thought he would faint soon, and Belle's beauty was to blame.

"Randall," Belle exclaimed and she wanted to hug him so badly she had to stop herself from actually doing it, and stopped walking, causing Mr. Gold to stop walking too, before he would become even wetter.

"Thank you, Belle." Mr. Gold placed his hand on her left shoulder and squeezed lovingly, and Belle's heart started beating faster. She was still smiling brightly and holding the umbrella over both herself and Mr. Gold.

"Where did you park your car, Randall? I wouldn't mind bringing you there, so you won't get sick or something," Belle watched her crush from underneath her eyelashes, uncertain. Relief flowed through her, when she saw the tiny nod and hooked her arm through Gold's. "Let's go, then."

Mr. Gold's heart threathened to beat out of his chest, but he cherished this moment. He could touch Belle without feeling guilty, because she intented it! Belle was whisteling a happy tune, and it matched the man's feelings perfectly. Together they walked through town, until they reached his beautiful black Volkswagen. Belle turned around, so she faced the shop owner, and their arms fell from the grip. Gold already missed the feeling of holding her, even though it was only her arm.

"Thank you again, Belle. I hope it wasn't too much of a burden? I mean, you should go home aswell, you have a class full of drugged-on-sugar kids tomorrow." Mr. Gold was nervous, because he didn't want to make a mistake around Belle.

"It's fine, Randall. I'm glad we could have this walk, and I'm happy you're finally comfortable enough around me that you can call me Belle." She didn't want to show Randall exactly _how happy _she was. Her name rolling off of his tongue did things to her and she was determined to not let that see him. Not _yet_.

"I've always been comfortable around you, Belle, even when I still called you Miss French." His cheeks coloured red, but the words were out now and he couldn't really turn it back. Belle smiled brightly at those words, thinking about her plan to ask him out. Bae knew this, but she wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it a secret. He was a kid after all. But she needed to wait just a while longer, until the time was truly right.

"I'm glad to hear that, Randall." She placed her hand over his, and pressed another kiss to his cheek, feeling the warmth of his blushes covering his cheeks. "I see you next week? Bae is very excited to show you his work."

Mr. Gold then reminded himself that he would visit the school next week, to talk about Bae, and how he did it at school, how he grew as an individual person. "Yes, next week, Belle. I see you then."

Belle walked away slowly as Mr. Gold stepped quickly into his car. He looked through the window one last time and waved at his son's teacher, with a stupid grin on his face. Damn it, he was smitten.

When he got home, Randall frowned as he still heard voices inside the house. Opening the door, he saw Ariel and Bae sitting on the stairs, Bae in his Spiderman pyjamas and Ariel next to him, talking softly.

"Hey, papa!" Bae exclaimed and jumped straight from the stairs in his arms. Mr. Gold caught him, hugging him close to his chest.

"Hey, Bae. Why aren't you in bed?" Mr. Gold actually looked at Ariel when asking this question, and he saw Ariel shrugging and nod at his child, as if she wanted to say that his son should tell him.

"I couldn't sleep, papa. I was too excited about Miss Belle's plan!" He yelled happily, but then frowned and closed his mouth, slapping his hand over it. "Uh oh, I shouldn't have said that!"

"What plan, Bae?" His father was now extremely confused and saw Ariel standing up, her cue to leave. Quickly, Mr. Gold grabbed some money out of his pocket and gave it to Ariel, with a kind smile and a whispered: 'Thank you!'

Ariel opened the door, after she had ruffled Bae through his hair and left, by foot, back to her house just a few blocks down.

"What plan, Bae?" Randall repeated and Bae looked down guiltily.

"I wasn't supposed to tell, papa… Can you drop it?" The small kid was playing with his hands nervously and bit his lip repeatedly, not wanting to disappoint his teacher.

His father looked at him with raised eyebrows and Bae couldn't do much else, but surrender.

"Okay, okay! You can't tell Miss Belle that you know, but she wants to ask you out on a date next week!"

**Dun dun dun… Sorry for the abrupt ending, but I want to build some things up in the next chapter. You can guess what will happen next chapter, and I'm very excited for it, yay! I don't know when I'll have it up, because next week is my first week of internship and I don't know how much time that will cost me. But I hope I can write some next weekend and post it on Sunday. But no promises. Also, I feel just like Mr. Gold and Belle right now… I have a crush on someone and we're gonna go for drinks next week and I'm very nervous about it, and we're gonna do a Harry Potter marathon soon, and I just don't want to make any mistakes. I'm freaking myself out, and I shouldn't, but it's been too long since I've done this… Sorry for ranting. Until next time!**


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